LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRT RAISING FUNDS FOR SOUP KITCHEN
To provide support for people in Southcentral Alaska affected by the Nov. 30 earthquake, XTRATUF has created a limited edition ‘ALASKATUF’ t-shirt.
All proceeds from the sale of the t-shirt (roughly $10.00 per shirt) will go to Bean’s Cafe, a soup kitchen and shelter in Anchorage.
Bean’s Cafe’s doors remained open and provided critical services for those needing emergency shelter and food in the aftermath of the earthquake. The organization also provides meals, shelter and referrals to services to anyone in need 365 days a year.
“As a nonprofit organization, we are constantly seeking ways to keep food on the table for the hundreds of people we serve each day. This generous opportunity from XTRATUF will help Bean’s Cafe continue to meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens,” said Lisa Sauder, executive director.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy will travel to Washington D.C. along with 12 other newly elected governors to meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday.
“This is the first of many opportunities to work in concert with the president and federal officials on advancing my administration’s priorities, like bringing new jobs and investment to Alaska,” said Dunleavy.
Jim Sackett, who ran for House District 4 in Fairbanks, is the new director of the Fairbanks Office of the Governor.
Sackett has been working on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s transition team since the Nov. 6 election.
His family moved to Interior Alaska in 1970. He married his wife Cheryl in 1988 and they have two grown children born at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
Sackett has a bachelor’s and master’s in business administration from University of Alaska Fairbanks. He also earned a master’s degree in theology and has had a successful career in business. He is an avid outdoorsman and hunter.
He replaces Melissa Stepovich, who was the director of the office under Govs. Bill Walker, Sean Parnell, Sarah Palin, and Frank Murkowski.
The job of the director involves interaction with constituents, representing the Governor’s Office at public events, and keeping the governor informed about current events in Fairbanks.
Bristol Bay Housing Authority provides dozens of subsidized housing units in Dillingham and surrounding villages, such as Togiak, Naknek, King Salmon, and Manakotok.
According to KDLG radio, some 29 of those units have been found to be contaminated with methamphetamine residue and will require costly remediation.
There may be others, as well; the housing authority hasn’t finished its survey of the problem.
BBHA is a public housing agency that manages various types of housing programs from apartments to single family dwellings.
Rental income is based upon 30 percent of the tenants’ gross income. HUD provides the remaining rental payment up to the fair market value of the apartment.
Muklung Manor Apartments is a 16-unit apartment building, while Forest View Apartments has 24 units for rent in Dillingham. Manokotak Heights has 12 apartments in Manokotak.
Since its inception in 1974, BBHA has built more than 500 such units, including apartments, single-family lease-to-own, assisted living, and senior housing.
According to KDLG, the cost of remediating each apartment could run as high as $100,000. Meanwhile, those apartments are not habitable. BBHA has been busy getting workers certified to do the hazmat cleanup.
The Bristol Bay region has a growing meth problem, and while Congress has appropriated millions of dollars to address the opioid epidemic among Native Americans, meth isn’t receiving the same attention.
But Dillingham, with a population of 2,329, is a port of entry for drugs like meth entering villages in the entire Bristol Bay region. The drugs come in by boat and by air, sometimes through the U.S. Postal Service, but often in luggage. Law enforcement isn’t seeing meth labs in rural Alaska — it’s too expensive to operate those, when cheap, 100 percent pure meth is coming across the border from Mexican cartels.
On Nov. 19, a man was arrested at the Ted Stevens International Airport as he tried to board a Dillingham-bound flight with a suitcase full of meth. The Dillingham street value was $55,000.
When users smoke meth, the particles in the air settle on surfaces and are sucked into vents and ducts. These particles are hard to reach and get rid of. It’s not as simple as just replacing carpets and washing down surfaces.
Exposure to meth can cause myriad health problems, and is especially problematic for children whose neurological development or immune system can be damaged.
Where BBHA will find funds to clean up all the meth is a concern, since typically housing authorities don’t have huge reserves of cash.
On Friday, Nov. 30 at 8:29 am I was on the fourth floor of the Legislative Information Offices in Anchorage meeting with one of my coworkers and two constituents when the building violently trembled on its foundation.
And then it shook again, with much greater force.
The next 20 seconds seemed like two minutes as ceiling panels dropped, the floor heaved, and furniture toppled. We held on to each other, braced ourselves, and prayed, silently calling out to the One who is omnipotent.
Rep. Chuck Kopp
In that moment all sense of self-sufficiency was gone. The quake subsided and we were shaken, humbled, and grateful.
Over the past week we have all cheered the now nationally renown work of our Department of Transportation and Public Facilities personnel as they worked 24/7 to repair critical roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. The social media posts of their work is the stuff of legends. It appears they do the difficult immediately, while the impossible takes a couple days.
Countless more stories have surfaced of heroic work by good people quickly coming together to watch over each other, and sacrifice their time and resources to help restore their neighbors homes, businesses and houses of worship.
As Alaska enters the season of Christmas and Hannukah which tell the greatest stories of love and rescue in all of human history, we have so much to be thankful for. We faced a powerful and damaging earthquake, yet were spared much greater loss that could have easily engulfed us. And I am reminded that we still face other, life-shaking earthquakes.
We have neighbors, friends and strangers all around us who are enduring personal and emotional earthquakes – the loss of health, loved ones, housing, work and financial stability. All leading to a sense of despair, desperation, abandonment and…questions. “Does anyone hear my SOS? Will I survive? If I do, will it matter to anyone? Am I too broken?”
I remember as a young boy falling out of our family fishing boat into the icy waters of Bristol Bay during a storm. I cried out “Daddy! Help me!” My father quickly and unceremoniously yanked me by my hood out of the water and back up on the deck. I thank God he was watching and listening.
Am I watching and listening? Am I ready and willing to step in and rescue my neighbor? I hope so, I pray I am. We are the ones that demonstrate how far God’s grace and love can reach.
There is no individual brokenness that doesn’t impact all of us as a whole. And the truth is, we all need rescue, because we all fall down.
Let’s face our earthquakes together.
Chuck Kopp serves in the Alaska House of Representatives and makes his home in District 24. A lifelong Alaskan, he is the son of educators and entrepreneurs who moved from Anchorage to Iliamna, near Bristol Bay. He chose a career in public safety that spanned over 20 years. He served in the Anchorage and the Kenai Police Departments, including seven years as the chief of police for the City of Kenai, and as acting city manager.
Nancy Dahlstrom easily won her race for House District 13 on Nov. 6. Then, Gov. Mike Dunleavy tapped her to lead the Department of Corrections.
She won’t be sworn in as a legislator in January. She’ll go through the legislative confirmation process instead and is acting commissioner until her confirmation.
But the Eagle River Republicans are busy coming up with names for her replacement.
So far, four three individuals have expressed interest in being appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to fill the seat until the next election — which is in two years.
Sharon Jackson
Sharon Jackson – Jackson ran for lieutenant governor this year. She is a U.S. Army veteran who recently served as a constituent relations staff member for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. Before that, she was the Alaska point person for National Write Your Congressman, the National Legislative Research Organization.
Myranda Walso – Walso ran for the District 13 seat in 2016 against former Rep. Dan Saddler, losing to him in the primary. She has been working on the transition team for Gov. Mike Dunleavy and worked for the Alaska Republican Party this year.
(Walso has withdrawn.)
Ken McCarty
Ken McCarty – McCarty is founder and executive director of Discovery Cove Recovery and Wellness Center, a center for counseling for mental health, outpatient substance abuse, and psychiatric services.
Craig Christianson
Craig Christianson– Christianson was a candidate for this seat earlier this year, but lost to Dahlstrom. He is a retired colonel and is a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. He is a retired physician and was deputy commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services under Gov. Sean Parnell.
District 13 and 14 Republicans operate jointly and will provide Gov. Mike Dunleavy with three names that they will choose on Tuesday during their regular meeting.
The governor will then interview the three and may pick someone from those names as Dahlstrom’s replacement, or bypass them and choose someone else. By tradition, governors work with the local party leaders in finding a replacement.
Suzanne Cunningham has been named legislative director for Gov. Mike Dunleavy. She’ll be tasked with moving the governor’s bills and budget through the legislature.
Cunningham is a longtime aide in the Legislature, serving most recently for five years as the chief of staff for Sen. Kevin Meyer, who is now Alaska’s lieutenant governor.
Cunningham took a position with Sen. Lisa Murkowski last year as senior oil and gas policy adviser to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, but is returning to Alaska to serve in the Dunleavy Administration.
Others named to the Office of the Governor include:
Laura Cramer: Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Cramer was the chief of staff to Sen. Anna MacKinnon.
Ed King: Chief economist. King is the former principal of King Economics Group.
Brandon Brefczynski: Special assistant to the governor’s policy advisors, providing research, analysis, reports, and logistical support to the key policy team of John Moller, Brett Huber, and Ben Stevens. Brefcynski was most recently at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
Mary Ann Pruitt: Acting Communications Director; on contract to set up communications team. Pruitt is the principal of PS Strategies and has other clients.
Jeff Turner: deputy communications director. Turner has worked for legislators including former Rep. Charisse Millett.
Austin McDaniel: Digital strategy manager. McDaniel most recently was the digital marketing strategist at GCI and worked in a similar role in the Parnell Administration.
Jordan Shilling: Communication specialist. From Fairbanks, Shilling most recently worked as a legislative aide to Sen. John Coghill.
Jeremy Price: Deputy chief of staff. Price, from Salcha, was the founding state director of Americans for Prosperity Alaska.
Amy Demoboski: Deputy chief of staff. Demboski has most recently served on the Anchorage Assembly, had a radio talk show and a long career in business management.
Janice Mason: Executive scheduler. Mason continues in this role she has had since the Palin Administration, handling the complicated schedule of the governor.
AROUND THE NATION, OBAMACARE PARTICIPATION IS DOWN 11 PERCENT
The cost of health insurance plans at HealthCare.gov are down for Alaskans, but so are the sales.
The five-week snapshot of Premera Blue Cross plans sold in Alaska on the HealthCare.gov platform show that 7,065 plans were sold Nov. 25 through Dec. 1. That compares to the same timeframe last year when 8,349 plans sold — a 15.39 percent drop in sales.
Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 15. Those without health insurance have until Saturday to purchase coverage on the HealthCare.gov “marketplace,” which in Alaska is Premera.
The drop in sales could be attributed to two changes:
No individual mandate: The Trump Administration has eliminated the tax penalty in Obamacare that was part of the original legislation. If you don’t have health insurance and you choose not to buy it, the Internal Revenue Service will no longer penalize you.
No marketing by the feds: The Trump Administration spent only about $10 million marketing the health insurance open enrollment period. Before Trump took office, the Obama Administration was spending more than $60 million to encourage Americans to get covered.
What about prices? The Cost plans have improved this year. Premera filed with the State Division of Insurance for an average rate decrease of 3.9 percent for its 2019 plans. Last year’s decrease was 22.4 percent for individual plans.
The average monthly premium dropped from over $1,000 in 2017, to $770 in 2019.
But the trend for enrollment is also dropping.
During open enrollment last year, 18,313 Alaskans signed up, four percent fewer than in 2017.
Around the country, enrollment in Obamacare health insurance plans is lagging more than 11 percent from last year, but in Alaska it’s a more than 15 percent drop. Of course, this could be made up in the last week as the deadline approaches as consumers rush to get it before the enrollment period closes.
Nearly 85 percent of Alaskans who purchase health insurance through the federal website receive government subsidies through tax rebates.
Rep. Dan Saddler, the outgoing representative for District 13, has resigned his seat to take a communications post in the Department of Natural Resources. He’ll handle external communications and some legislative liaison duties.
He ran for Senate but was beat by Sen.-elect Lora Reinbold. His District seat was won by Nancy Dahlstrom, who has since also taken a position in the Dunleavy Administration as commissioner of Corrections. The District 13 seat is now up for appointment, and his acceptance of a position in the administration signals he is not throwing his hat in the ring to return to the House.
He made the announcement on Facebook on Friday.
“It is with bittersweet feelings that I let you know that I have resigned my seat representing District 13 in the Alaska House of Representatives, effective close of business today (Friday), he wrote.
“Though my fourth term would ordinarily run until members of the 30th Legislature are sworn in on Jan. 15, 2019, I wanted to get to work quickly helping Gov. Mike Dunleavy fulfill his promise to use our state’s resources to create jobs and a stronger economy for Alaskans. And with my friend Nancy Dahlstrom’s decision to take on the important challenge of keeping our state safer as Corrections commissioner, I wanted to clear the path forward for those seeking to succeed us in the House seat,” Saddler wrote.
A Democrat blogger stated that Saddler cannot legally move from the House into a professional job in the Administration. However, Saddler has a written opinion from the Department of Law that says he can:
